The present invention relates to a pattern exposure/transfer method and a pattern exposure/transfer mask apparatus used for manufacturing semiconductor devices.
When a micropattern image is transferred to a photoresist coated on a surface of a semiconductor wafer, according to a conventional method, an enlarged image (normally, .times.5) of a desired pattern or a photomask of a metal film such as a chrominum film is preformed on a glass mask of quartz or the like, and the pattern is exposed/transferred to the photoresist. Thus, the desired pattern is transferred to the surface of the wafer having a large area using the step-and-repeat system.
The above-described method is optimal for manufacturing an LSI such as a memory by transferring a single photomask image to a large number of wafers. However, in the case of the custom LSI manufacture where a single pattern image is transferred to only a small number of wafers and a demand for shortening a time required for transferring a pattern after its design is determined is strong, the above-described method wherein an enlarged image is formed on a glass mask and is then transferred is time consuming.
Thus, instead of forming an enlarged image on a glass mask, a method of directly drawing a desired image on a wafer using an electron beam exposure has been proposed.
However, in this direct drawing method, the apparatus is expensive and productivity is too low.
A pattern exposure method for manufacturing semiconductor devices according to the present invention is provided to solve the problem, i.e., that a time required for the pattern exposure/transfer process tends to be long. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pattern exposure/transfer method which allows easy formation of an arbitrary pattern image and shortens a time required for performing exposure/transfer after a pattern is determined.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pattern transfer mask apparatus which allows easy formation of an arbitrary pattern image used for the above pattern exposure method.